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Re: Rob and Mug

Originally Posted by ratóncolorao

Hello,

I would like to know your opinion about these two words: Rob and Mug

Is there any difference between them? Yes.
According to the dictonary, "Rob" implies the use of violence; but when defining "Mug" we see the word "attack" in the definition which also implies violence.

In common use of these words, do you feel that there are differences between them?

Thank you.

In a robbery, the "victim" can be a person or a place. "The school was robbed of all its computers." In a mugging, the event usually takes place outdoors or in a public place. "He was mugged on his way home from the supermarket. They took his groceries and all his money." A mugging usually includes a robbery, but a robbery is not always a mugging.

Re: Rob and Mug

There does not have to be violence for it to be a mugging--just the threat of violence. If someone pulls a gun or knife on me and demands my purse, he never has to touch me but I have still been mugged.

I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.

Re: Rob and Mug

One more for the vocabulary books - recognized recently by the OED: "chugger". This is someone who accosts people in public places and signs them up to make a regular charity donation. There's no violence, though they can be insistent in a way that some people would regard as impolite.